Electronic apparatus and charging method thereof

ABSTRACT

An electronic apparatus may include: batteries; a charger configured to charge the batteries; a switch network electrically connected to the batteries; and a charging controller configured to control the switch network to change a connection relationship between the batteries and to control the charger to charge the batteries while the batteries are in the changed connection relationship.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/879,972 filed on May 21, 2020 which the benefit under 35 USC § 119(a)of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0153287, filed on Nov. 26,2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosuresof which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND Field

The following description relates to an electronic apparatus and amethod of charging an electronic apparatus.

2. Description of Related Art

Recently, use of portable electronic devices such as smartphones andtablet personal computers (PCs) has been increasing. Such electronicdevices may perform various functions. For example, various functionssuch as a voice communication, an Internet search, and an image playbackmay be performed in the electronic devices. Thus, an amount of powerconsumed by a battery may increase, and accordingly a capacity of thebattery may also be increased to increase a time to use an electronicdevice.

Also, a demand for fast charging of a battery having a high capacity isalso increasing based on usage patterns of users of a portableelectronic devices.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

In one general aspect, an electronic apparatus includes: batteries; acharger configured to charge the batteries; a switch networkelectrically connected to the batteries; and a charging controllerconfigured to control the switch network to change a connectionrelationship between the batteries and to control the charger to chargethe batteries while the batteries are in the changed connectionrelationship.

In a high-voltage charging mode, the charging controller may beconfigured to control the switch network to change the connectionrelationship from a parallel connection relationship to a seriesconnection relationship, and to control the charger to charge thebatteries, while the batteries are in the series connectionrelationship, with a voltage set to correspond to the high-voltagecharging mode. In a low-voltage charging mode, the charging controllermay be configured to maintain the connection relationship as theparallel connection relationship, and to control the charger to chargethe batteries, while the batteries are in the parallel connectionrelationship, with a voltage set to correspond to the low-voltagecharging mode.

The charging controller may be further configured to determine acharging mode to be a high-voltage charging mode in response to anoutput voltage value of a power supplier being greater than or equal toa threshold voltage, and to determine the charging mode to be alow-voltage charging mode in response to the output voltage value beingless than the threshold voltage.

The charging controller may be further configured to determine arequired voltage value for the charger based on the output voltage valueand to control the charger based on the determined required voltagevalue.

The charging controller may be further configured to calculate arequired charging current value based on either one or both of an outputvoltage value of a power supplier and a usage pattern of a user, and todetermine a charging mode based on the calculated required chargingcurrent value, in response to the output voltage value being greaterthan or equal to a threshold voltage.

The charging controller may be further configured to determine thecharging mode to be a high-voltage charging mode in response to thecalculated required charging current value being greater than or equalto a threshold current, and to determine the charging mode to be alow-voltage charging mode in response to the calculated requiredcharging current value being less than the threshold current.

The charging controller may be further configured to determine an outputvoltage value of a power supplier based on information about an outputvoltage range of the power supplier and maximum charging efficiencyinformation for each of output voltages in the output voltage range, tocalculate a required charging current value based on the determinedoutput voltage value, and to determine a charging mode based on eitherone or both of the determined output voltage value and the calculatedrequired charging current value.

The charging controller may be further configured to determine thecharging mode to be a low-voltage charging mode in response to thedetermined output voltage value being less than a threshold voltage, todetermine the charging mode to be the low-voltage charging mode inresponse to the determined output voltage value being greater than orequal to the threshold voltage and the calculated required chargingcurrent value being less than a threshold current, and to determine thecharging mode to be a high-voltage charging mode in response to thedetermined output voltage value being greater than or equal to thethreshold voltage and the calculated required charging current valuebeing greater than or equal to the threshold current.

The electronic apparatus may further include: a first switch configuredto electrically connect the charger and a load; and a second switchconfigured to electrically connect the charger to the batteries.

The charging controller may be further configured to control the firstswitch to interrupt an electrical connection between the charger and theload in a high-voltage charging mode.

In another general aspect, a method of charging an electronic apparatusincludes: controlling a switch network electrically connected tobatteries to change a connection relationship between the batteries; andcontrolling a charger to charge the batteries while the batteries are inthe changed connection relationship.

The controlling of the switch network may include maintaining theconnection relationship as a parallel connection relationship in alow-voltage charging mode, and controlling the switch network to changethe connection relationship from the parallel connection relationship toa series connection relationship in a high-voltage charging mode. Thecontrolling of the charger may include controlling the charger to chargethe batteries, while the batteries are in the parallel connectionrelationship, with a voltage set to correspond to the low-voltagecharging mode in the low-voltage charging mode, and controlling thecharger to charge the batteries, while the batteries are in the seriesconnection relationship, with a voltage set to correspond to thehigh-voltage charging mode in the high-voltage charging mode.

The method may further include: determining a charging mode to be ahigh-voltage charging mode in response to an output voltage value of apower supplier being greater than or equal to a threshold voltage; anddetermining the charging mode to be a low-voltage charging mode inresponse to the output voltage value being less than the thresholdvoltage.

The controlling of the charger may include determining a requiredvoltage value for the charger based on the output voltage value, andcontrolling the charger based on the determined required voltage value.

The method may further include: calculating a required charging currentvalue based on either one or both of an output voltage value of a powersupplier and a usage pattern of a user; and determining a charging modebased on the calculated required charging current value, in response tothe output voltage value being greater than or equal to a thresholdvoltage.

The charging mode may include determining the charging mode to be ahigh-voltage charging mode in response to the calculated requiredcharging current value being greater than or equal to a thresholdcurrent, and determining the charging mode to be a low-voltage chargingmode in response to the calculated required charging current value beingless than the threshold current.

The method may further include: determining an output voltage value of apower supplier based on information about an output voltage range of thepower supplier and maximum charging efficiency information for each ofoutput voltages in the output voltage range; calculating a requiredcharging current value based on the determined output voltage value; anddetermining a charging mode based on either one or both of thedetermined output voltage value and the calculated required chargingcurrent value.

The determining of the charging mode may include determining thecharging mode to be a low-voltage charging mode in response to thedetermined output voltage value being less than a threshold voltage,determining the charging mode to be the low-voltage charging mode inresponse to the determined output voltage value being greater than orequal to the threshold voltage and the calculated required chargingcurrent value being less than a threshold current, and determining thecharging mode to be a high-voltage charging mode in response to thedetermined output voltage value being greater than or equal to thethreshold voltage and the calculated required charging current valuebeing greater than or equal to the threshold current.

The method may further include: controlling a switch to interrupt anelectrical connection between the charger and a load in a high-voltagecharging mode.

In another general aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause theprocessor to perform the method described above.

In another general aspect, a method of charging an electronic apparatusincludes: determining a charging mode of the electronic apparatus inresponse to the electronic apparatus being connected to a powersupplier; and charging batteries in the determined charging mode. Thebatteries are connected in parallel before the electronic apparatus isconnected to the power supplier. The charging of the batteries includes:charging the batteries, while the batteries are connected in parallel,in response to the charging mode being determined to be a first chargingmode; and changing a connection relationship between the batteries suchthat the batteries are connected in series and charging the batterieswhile the batteries are connected in series, in response to the chargingmode being determined to be a second charging mode.

Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detaileddescription, the drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a charging system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an operation of an electronicapparatus.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of operations performed by a chargingcontroller in an electronic apparatus.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate examples of a switch network in an electronicapparatus.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate examples of charging circuits in an electronicapparatus.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of an operation of an electronicapparatus.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of charging anelectronic apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration ofan electronic apparatus.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a charging indication of an electronicapparatus.

Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, the same drawingreference numerals refer to the same elements, features, and structures.The drawings may not be to scale, and the relative size, proportions,and depiction of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated forclarity, illustration, and convenience.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader ingaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses,and/or systems described herein. However, various changes,modifications, and equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, and/orsystems described herein will be apparent after an understanding of thedisclosure of this application. For example, the sequences of operationsdescribed herein are merely examples, and are not limited to those setforth herein, but may be changed as will be apparent after anunderstanding of the disclosure of this application, with the exceptionof operations necessarily occurring in a certain order. Also,descriptions of features that are known in the art may be omitted forincreased clarity and conciseness.

The features described herein may be embodied in different forms, andare not to be construed as being limited to the examples describedherein. Rather, the examples described herein have been provided merelyto illustrate some of the many possible ways of implementing themethods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein that will beapparent after an understanding of the disclosure of this application.

Herein, it is noted that use of the term “may” with respect to anexample or embodiment, e.g., as to what an example or embodiment mayinclude or implement, means that at least one example or embodimentexists in which such a feature is included or implemented while allexamples and embodiments are not limited thereto.

Throughout the specification, when an element, such as a layer, region,or substrate, is described as being “on,” “connected to,” or “coupledto” another element, it may be directly “on,” “connected to,” or“coupled to” the other element, or there may be one or more otherelements intervening therebetween. In contrast, when an element isdescribed as being “directly on,” “directly connected to,” or “directlycoupled to” another element, there can be no other elements interveningtherebetween. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any one and anycombination of any two or more of the associated listed items.

Although terms such as “first,” “second,” and “third” may be used hereinto describe various members, components, regions, layers, or sections,these members, components, regions, layers, or sections are not to belimited by these terms. Rather, these terms are only used to distinguishone member, component, region, layer, or section from another member,component, region, layer, or section. Thus, a first member, component,region, layer, or section referred to in examples described herein mayalso be referred to as a second member, component, region, layer, orsection without departing from the teachings of the examples.

The terminology used herein is for describing various examples only andis not to be used to limit the disclosure. The articles “a,” “an,” and“the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “includes,”and “has” specify the presence of stated features, numbers, operations,members, elements, and/or combinations thereof, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, operations,members, elements, and/or combinations thereof.

The features of the examples described herein may be combined in variousways as will be apparent after an understanding of the disclosure ofthis application. Further, although the examples described herein have avariety of configurations, other configurations are possible as will beapparent after an understanding of the disclosure of this application.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a charging system 100.

Referring to FIG. 1, the charging system 100 includes an electronicapparatus 110 and a power supplier 120.

The electronic apparatus 110 may be, for example, a mobile electronicapparatus or a portable electronic apparatus. For example, theelectronic apparatus 110 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone ora tablet personal computer (PC). The electronic apparatus 110 may bereferred to as, for example, a user terminal, user equipment or awireless communication apparatus.

The electronic apparatus 110 is connected to the power supplier 120. Inan example, the power supplier 120 may be an adapter, and the electronicapparatus 110 may be connected to the adapter via a cable. In anotherexample, the power supplier 120 may be a wireless power transmitter, andthe electronic apparatus 110 may form an electromagnetic coupling withthe wireless power transmitter and may receive wireless power from thewireless power transmitter.

The electronic apparatus 110 includes a plurality of batteries. Whenpower is received from the power supplier 120, the electronic apparatus110 may charge the batteries. In an example, in a low-voltage chargingmode, the electronic apparatus 110 may charge batteries while thebatteries are connected to each other in parallel. In a high-voltagecharging mode, the electronic apparatus 110 may change a connectionrelationship between the batteries from a parallel connectionrelationship to a series connection relationship and may charge thebatteries. In other words, in the high-voltage charging mode, theelectronic apparatus 110 may charge the batteries while the batteriesare connected in series. Thus, the electronic apparatus 110 may performa fast charging by increasing a voltage instead of increasing a current,and it is therefore possible to prevent heat from being generated by aconduction loss caused by a current, and possible to perform chargingwith a high efficiency.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an operation of the electronicapparatus 110.

Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic apparatus 110 may include, forexample, a connector 210, an overvoltage protector (OVP) 220, a charger230, a charging controller 240, a first battery 250, a second battery260, and a switch network 270. In the example of FIG. 2, the electronicapparatus 110 includes two batteries, that is, the first battery 250 andthe second battery 260. However, the number of batteries provided inFIG. 2 is merely an example. For example, the electronic apparatus 110may include three or more batteries.

The connector 210 may be connected to a cable of the power supplier 120.The connector 210 may include, but is not limited to, for example, auniversal serial bus (USB) type C port.

When the connector 210 is connected to the cable of the power supplier120, the charging controller 240 may control either one or both of theswitch network 270 and the charger 230. In an example, the chargingcontroller 240 determines a charging mode to be a high-voltage chargingmode. The first battery 250 and the second battery 260 are connected inparallel before the connector 210 is connected to the cable of the powersupplier 120, and the charging controller 240 controls the switchnetwork 270 such that a connection relationship between the firstbattery 250 and the second battery 260 is changed from a parallelconnection relationship to a series connection relationship in thehigh-voltage charging mode. Also, the charging controller 240 controlsthe charger 230 to charge the first battery 250 and the second battery260, which are configured in the series connection relationship, with avoltage set to correspond to the high-voltage charging mode.

In another example, the charging controller 240 determines the chargingmode to be a low-voltage charging mode. Since the first battery 250 andthe second battery 260 are connected in parallel before the connector210 is connected to the cable of the power supplier 120, the chargingcontroller 240 maintains the connection parallel relationship betweenthe first battery 250 and the second battery 260 in the low-voltagecharging mode. Also, the charging controller 240 controls the charger230 to charge the first battery 250 and the second battery 260, whichare configured in the parallel connection relationship, with a voltageset to correspond to the low-voltage charging mode. The chargingcontroller 240 will be further described below with reference to FIG. 3.

The power supplier 120 outputs or supplies power to the electronicapparatus 110, and the power is transmitted to the OVP 220 through theconnector 210.

When a voltage VBUS of the power of the power supplier 120 is less thana predetermined level, the OVP 220 may output the power to the charger230. When the voltage VBUS of the power of the power supplier 120 isgreater than or equal to the predetermined level, the OVP 220 may turnoff a switch included in the OVP 220 to prevent the power from beingoutput from the OVP 220. Thus, the electronic apparatus 110 or at leastone circuit in the electronic apparatus 110 may be protected from powerof overvoltage.

The OVP 220 may include, for example, an overvoltage protection circuit.

The charger 230 converts the power output from the OVP 220. For example,the charger 230 may include a step-down direct current (DC)-to-DC(DC/DC) converter, and the step-down DC/DC converter may convert or stepdown the voltage VBUS of the power output from the OVP 220 to a voltageVDC.

The charger 230 charges the first battery 250 and the second battery 260with the converted power. For example, the charger 230 may charge thefirst battery 250 and the second battery 260 that are connected inseries in the high-voltage charging mode with a voltage set tocorrespond to the high-voltage charging mode, and may charge the firstbattery 250 and the second battery 260 that are connected in parallel inthe low-voltage charging mode with a voltage set to correspond to thelow-voltage charging mode.

When the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 are fully chargedor charging is terminated in the high-voltage charging mode, thecharging controller 240 may control the switch network 270 such that thefirst battery 250 and the second battery 260 may be connected inparallel.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of operations performed by the chargingcontroller 240 in the electronic apparatus 110.

Referring to FIG. 3, in operation 310, the charging controller 240communicates with the power supplier 120. For example, when theconnector 210 is connected to the cable of the power supplier 120, thecharging controller 240 may receive information about the power supplier120 from the power supplier 120 via ports (for example, CC1 and CC2ports or D+ and D− ports) included in the connector 210. The informationabout the power supplier 120 may include, but is not limited to, forexample, information about an output voltage range of the power supplier120.

In operation 320, the charging controller 240 determines a charging modein response to a communication with the power supplier 120.

For example, the charging controller 240 determines an output voltagevalue of the power supplier 120 based on at least one of a state of theelectronic apparatus 110 and the output voltage range of the powersupplier 120, and determines the charging mode. In an example, when theelectronic apparatus 110 needs to be fast charged and when the powersupplier 120 is capable of outputting power of a high voltage (forexample, at least 10 volts (V)), the charging controller 240 maydetermine the output voltage value of the power supplier 120 to begreater than or equal to a threshold voltage (for example, 10 V). Inthis example, since the output voltage value of the power supplier 120is determined to be greater than or equal to the threshold voltage, andthe charging controller 240 may determine the charging mode to be thehigh-voltage charging mode. In another example, when the electronicapparatus 110 needs to be fast charged but the power supplier 120 is notcapable of outputting power of a high voltage, the charging controller240 may determine the output voltage value of the power supplier 120 tobe less than the threshold voltage. In this example, since the outputvoltage value of the power supplier 120 is determined to be less thanthe threshold voltage, the charging controller 240 may determine thecharging mode to be the low-voltage charging mode. In still anotherexample, when the electronic apparatus 110 needs to be charged but doesnot need to be fast charged, the charging controller 240 may determinethe output voltage value of the power supplier 120 to be less than thethreshold voltage and may determine the charging mode to be thelow-voltage charging mode.

In still another example, the charging controller 240 may determine thecharging mode based on at least one of a required charging current valueand the output voltage value of the power supplier 120. For example, thecharging controller 240 may determine the output voltage value of thepower supplier 12 as described above. In this example, when thedetermined output voltage value is less than the threshold voltage, thecharging controller 240 may determine the charging mode to be thelow-voltage charging mode. When the determined output voltage value isgreater than or equal to the threshold voltage, the charging controller240 may calculate a required charging current value based on at leastone of the determined output voltage value and a usage pattern of auser. When the usage pattern of the user indicates that the user isusing the electronic apparatus 110, for example, calling or watching avideo, during charging, a required charging current value may becalculated to be relatively high. When the calculated required chargingcurrent value is greater than or equal to a threshold current (forexample, 3 amperes (A)), the charging controller 240 may determine thecharging mode to be the high-voltage charging mode. When the calculatedrequired charging current value is less than the threshold current, thecharging controller 240 may determine the charging mode to be thelow-voltage charging mode.

In still another example, the charging controller 240 may determine therequired charging current value and the output voltage value of thepower supplier 120 based on information about the output voltage rangeof the power supplier 120 and maximum charging efficiency informationfor each voltage, and may determine the charging mode based on thedetermined required charging current value and the determined outputvoltage value. Table 1 shows an example of the maximum chargingefficiency information for each voltage below.

TABLE 1 Voltage (V) Maximum charging efficiency V1(V) a_V1(%) V2(V)a_V2(%) V3(V) a_V3(%) . . . . . . V8(V) a_V3(%) . . . . . . Vn(V)a_Vn(%)

For example, when a maximum output voltage of the power supplier 120 isV8, the charging controller 240 may search for the highest value from amaximum charging efficiency a_V1 mapped to a voltage V1(V) through amaximum charging efficiency a_V8 mapped to a voltage V8(V). When amaximum charging efficiency a_V6 is the highest value among the maximumcharging efficiencies a_V1 through a_V8, the charging controller 240 maydetermine a voltage V6 mapped to the maximum charging efficiency a_V6 asan output voltage value of the power supplier 120, and may determine arequired charging current value based on the determined output voltagevalue. When the determined output voltage value is less than thethreshold voltage, the charging controller 240 may determine thecharging mode to be the low-voltage charging mode. When the determinedoutput voltage value is greater than or equal to the threshold voltageand when the required charging current value is less than the thresholdcurrent, the charging controller 240 may determine the charging mode tobe the low-voltage charging mode. When the determined output voltagevalue is greater than or equal to the threshold voltage and when therequired charging current value is greater than or equal to thethreshold current, the charging controller 240 may determine thecharging mode to be the high-voltage charging mode.

In operation 330, the charging controller 240 may control either one orboth of the charger 230 and the switch network 270 when the chargingmode is determined.

For example, the charging controller 240 may determine a requiredvoltage value for the charger 230 based on the determined output voltagevalue and the determined charging mode, control the charger 230 based onthe determined required voltage value, and control the switch network270 based on the determined charging mode. In an example, when theoutput voltage value of the power supplier 120 is determined to be 15 Vand the charging mode is determined to be the high-voltage chargingmode, the charging controller 240 may determine the required voltagevalue for the charger 230 to be 10 V based on a voltage conversion ratio(for example, 1.5:1) of the high-voltage charging mode, and may controlthe charger 230 based on the determined required voltage value. In otherwords, when the output voltage value of the power supplier 120 isdetermined to be 15 V, the charging controller 240 may send a request oran instruction to the charger 230 such that an output voltage VDC of thecharger 230 reaches 10 V. Also, the charging controller 240 may controlthe switch network 270 such that the first battery 250 and the secondbattery 260 are connected in series. In another example, when the outputvoltage value of the power supplier 120 is determined to be 9 V and thecharging mode is determined to be the low-voltage charging mode, thecharging controller 240 may determine the required voltage value for thecharger 230 to be 4.5 V based on a voltage conversion ratio (forexample, 2:1) of the low-voltage charging mode, and may control thecharger 230 based on the determined required voltage value. In otherwords, when the output voltage value of the power supplier 120 isdetermined to be 9 V, the charging controller 240 may send a request oran instruction to the charger 230 such that an output voltage VDC of thecharger 230 reaches 4.5 V. Also, the charging controller 240 maymaintain a parallel connection relationship between the first battery250 and the second battery 260.

When the output voltage value of the power supplier 120 is determined,the charging controller 240 may transmit the determined output voltagevalue to the power supplier 120 through the connector 210. In otherwords, the charging controller 240 may request the power supplier 120 tosupply power corresponding to the determined output voltage value.

The power supplier 120 supplies the power corresponding to thedetermined output voltage value to the electronic apparatus 110, and thesupplied power is input to the charger 230.

The charger 230 converts the supplied power and charges the firstbattery 250 and the second battery 260 based on the converted power. Forexample, in the high-voltage charging mode, when power of 15 V issupplied from the power supplier 120, the charger 230 may step down 15 Vto a required voltage value of 10 V and may charge the first battery 250and the second battery 260, while the first battery 250 and the secondbattery 260 are connected in series. In the low-voltage charging mode,when power of 9 V is supplied from the power supplier 120, the charger230 may step down 9 V to a required voltage value of 4.5 V and maycharge the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 while the firstbattery 250 and the second battery 260 are connected in parallel.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate examples of the switch network 270 in theelectronic apparatus 110.

Referring to FIG. 4, the switch network 270 may include a plurality ofswitches including a first switch 410, a second switch 420, and a thirdswitch 430.

In a default configuration, for example, the first switch 420 is turnedoff and the second and third switches 410 and 430 are turned on. Thus,the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 are connected inparallel.

In the low-voltage charging mode, the parallel connection relationshipbetween the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 is maintained,as described above.

In the high-voltage charging mode, the charging controller 240 controlsthe switch network 270 such that the first battery 250 and the secondbattery 260 are connected in series. In the example of FIG. 4, thecharging controller 240 turns off the switch 410 using a gate driver 1,turns off the switch 430 using a gate driver 3, and turns on the switch420 using a gate driver 2. Thus, in the high-voltage charging mode, thefirst battery 250 and the second battery 260 are connected in series.

When the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 are fully chargedor charging is terminated in the high-voltage charging mode, thecharging controller 240 may control the switch network 270 such that thefirst battery 250 and the second battery 260, which are connected inseries, become connected in parallel. In the example of FIG. 4, thecharging controller 240 turns on the switch 410 using the gate driver 1,turns on the switch 430 using the gate driver 3, and turns off theswitch 420 using the gate driver 2. Thus, the first battery 250 and thesecond battery 260 are connected in parallel.

Referring to FIG. 5, the switch network 270 may further include a switchcontroller 510. For example, when a switching signal SET_(SW) isreceived from the charging controller 240, the switch controller 510controls each of the switches 410 through 430 based on the switchingsignal SET_(SW). In an example, when the switching signal SET_(SW)indicates a series connection between the first battery 250 and thesecond battery 260, the switch controller 510 may turn off the switch410 using the gate driver 1, turn off the switch 430 using the gatedriver 3, and turn off the switch 420 using the gate driver 2. Thus, thefirst battery 250 and the second battery 260 may be connected in series.In another example, when the switching signal SET_(SW) indicates aparallel connection between the first battery 250 and the second battery260, the switch controller 510 may turn on the switch 410 using the gatedriver 1, turn on the switch 430 using the gate driver 3, and turn offthe switch 420 using the gate driver 2. Thus, the first battery 250 andthe second battery 260 may be connected in parallel.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate examples of charging circuits 610 and 710 inthe electronic apparatus 110.

Referring to FIG. 6, the charging circuit 610 in the electronicapparatus 110 includes, for example, the charger 230, the chargingcontroller 240, and switches 620 and 630. In the example of FIG. 6, theswitch network 270 is disposed outside the charging circuit 610.

Referring to FIG. 7, the charging circuit 710 in the electronicapparatus 110 further includes the switch network 270, in comparison tothe charging circuit 610. In other words, the charging circuit 710includes the charger 230, the charging controller 240, the switchnetwork 270, and the switches 620 and 630.

Each of the charging circuits 610 and 710 may be, for example, acharging power management integrated circuit (PMIC).

In the examples of FIGS. 6 and 7, the switch 620 electrically connectsthe charger 230 to a system or a load, and the switch 630 electricallyconnects the charger 230 to the first battery 250 and the second battery260.

In the high-voltage charging mode, the charging controller 240 controlsthe switch network 270 to connect the first battery 250 and the secondbattery 260 in series, to turn on the switch 630 and to turn off theswitch 620. In the low-voltage charging mode, the charging controller240 turns on the switch 630 and turns off the switch 620.

According to an example, in the high-voltage charging mode or thelow-voltage charging mode, the charging controller 240 may turn on theswitch 620. For example, when a user uses the electronic apparatus 110,for example, when the user watches a video during charging of theelectronic apparatus 110, in the high-voltage charging mode or thelow-voltage charging mode, the charging controller 240 may turn on theswitch 620 such that power may be supplied to a system, for example, adisplay or a processor. In this example, the first battery 250 and thesecond battery 260 may be charged more slowly than when the switch 620is turned off.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of an operation of an electronic apparatus800.

Referring to FIG. 8, the electronic apparatus 800 may include theconnector 210, the OVP 220, a first charger 810, a second charger 820,the charging controller 240, the first battery 250, the second battery260, the switch network 270 and a system 830. In the example of FIG. 8,the electronic apparatus 800 includes two batteries, that is, the firstbattery 250 and the second battery 260. However, the describedconfiguration of the electronic apparatus 800 is merely an example, andthe electronic apparatus 800 may include three or more batteries.

The electronic apparatus 800 may be, for example, a mobile electronicapparatus or a portable electronic apparatus. For example, theelectronic apparatus 800 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone ora tablet PC.

For example, the first charger 810 may include a step-down DC/DCconverter, and the second charger 820 may include a 2:1 switchedcapacitor converter.

The system 830 includes a component configured to receive a power supplyfrom the first battery 250 and the second battery 260. For example, thesystem 830 may include a memory, a display, or a processor that will bedescribed below with reference to FIG. 10. However, the system is notlimited to the described example components.

The charging controller 240 may control either one or both of the firstcharger 810 and the second charger 820 such that VDC is a requiredvoltage value determined by the charging controller 240. In an example,when an output voltage value of the power supplier 120 is determined tobe 15 V in a high-voltage charging mode, the charging controller 240 maydetermine the required voltage value to be 10 V, and may control eitherone or both of the first charger 810 and the second charger 820 suchthat VDC is 10 V. In this example, the charging controller 240 maycontrol the switch network 270 such that the first battery 250 and thesecond battery 260 are connected in series. In another example, when theoutput voltage value of the power supplier 120 is determined to be 9 Vin a low-voltage charging mode, the charging controller 240 maydetermine the required voltage value to be 4.5 V, and may control eitherone or both of the first charger 810 and the second charger 820 suchthat VDC is 4.5 V.

The above description of FIGS. 1 through 7 is also applicable to theexample of FIG. 8. In the interest of conciseness, this description isnot repeated herein with respect to FIG. 8.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of charging anelectronic apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 9, in operation 910, the electronic apparatus 100/800controls the switch network 270, which is electrically connected to thefirst battery 250 and the second battery 260, such that a connectionrelationship between the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 ischanged. For example, the electronic apparatus 100/800 may change theconnection relationship between the first battery 250 and the secondbattery 260 from a parallel connection relationship to a seriesconnection relationship using the switch network 270 in a high-voltagecharging mode.

In operation 920, the electronic apparatus 100/800 controls the charger240/ the first and second chargers 810 and 820, to charge the firstbattery 250 and the second battery 260, which have the changedconnection relationship. For example, the electronic apparatus 100/800may control the charger 240/the first and second chargers 810 and 820,to charge the first battery 250 and the second battery 260, which areconnected to each other in series, with set high voltages in thehigh-voltage charging mode. The electronic apparatus 100/800 may controlthe charger 240/the first and second chargers 810 and 820 to charge thefirst battery 250 and the second battery 260, which are connected toeach other in parallel, with set low voltages in a low-voltage chargingmode.

When power is received from the power supplier 120, the electronicapparatus 100/800 charges the first battery 250 and the second battery260. In the low-voltage charging mode, the electronic apparatus 100/800charges the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 while the firstbattery 250 and the second battery 260 are connected to each other inparallel. In the high-voltage charging mode, the electronic apparatus100/800 charges the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 whilethe first battery 250 and the second battery 260 are connected to eachother in series.

The above description of FIGS. 1 through 8 is also applicable to theexample of FIG. 9. In the interest of conciseness, this description isnot repeated herein with respect to FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration ofan electronic apparatus 1000.

Referring to FIG. 10, the electronic apparatus 1000 includes, forexample, a charging circuit 1010, the first battery 250, the secondbattery 260, a power management circuit 1020, a memory 1030, a display1040, a processor 1050, and a communication interface 1060.

A description of the electronic apparatus 1000 is applicable to each ofthe electronic apparatuses 100 and 800. Also, the description of theelectronic apparatuses 100 and 800 is applicable to the electronicapparatus 1000.

For example, the charger 230 and the charging controller 240 of FIG. 2are integrated in the charging circuit 1010. In another example, thecharger 230, the charging controller 240, and the switch network 270 maybe integrated in the charging circuit 1010.

The charging circuit 1010 may correspond to, for example, the chargingcircuit 610 of FIG. 6 or the charging circuit 710 of FIG. 7.

As described above, the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 areconnected in series in the high-voltage charging mode, and are connectedin parallel in the low-voltage charging mode.

The first battery 250 and the second battery 260 may supply power to anyone or any combination of any two or more of the memory 1030, thedisplay 1040, the processor 1050, and the communication interface 1060.

The power management circuit 1020 manages power supplied to theelectronic apparatus 1000.

The power management circuit 1020 estimates a state of each of the firstbattery 250 and the second battery 260. For example, the powermanagement circuit 1020 may collect sensing data, for example, any oneor any combination of any two or more of voltage data, current data andtemperature data, of each of the first battery 250 and the secondbattery 260. The power management circuit 1020 may estimate a state ofeach of the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 based on thesensing data of the first battery 250 and the second battery 260. Astate of each battery may include, for example, any one or anycombination of any two or more of a charging state, a life state, and anabnormal state. The abnormal state may include, for example, any one orany combination of any two or more of overvoltage, undervoltage,overcharging, overdischarging, overheating, and a short.

The power management circuit 1020 may perform a balancing of the firstbattery 250 and the second battery 260. For example, when a chargingstate of the first battery 250 and a charging state of the secondbattery 260 are not equal, the power management circuit 1020 may performthe balancing.

The power management circuit 1020 may be referred to as a “main PMIC” tobe distinguished from the charging PMIC of FIGS. 6 and 7.

The memory 1030 may store at least one instruction executed by theprocessor 1050. Also, the memory 1030 may store data generated by theprocessor 1050. The memory 1030 may also store at least one applicationor software.

The display 1040 may display at least one piece of information. Forexample, the display 1040 may visually display an amount of powerremaining in each of the first battery 250 and the second battery 260.Also, the display 1040 may visually display data executed by theprocessor 1050.

The processor 1050 may perform arithmetic logic operations and graphicsprocessing. Also, the processor 1050 may execute an application orsoftware and stores an execution result in the memory 1030 and/orvisually displays the execution result on the display 1040.

The processor 1050 may perform an authentication. In an example, theprocessor 1050 may receive fingerprint data of a user using afingerprint sensor, and may perform an authentication of the user basedon the fingerprint data. In another example, the processor 1050 mayreceive face image data of a user using a camera, and may perform anauthentication of the user based on the face image data.

The communication interface 1060 may enable the electronic apparatus1000 to communicate with an external device. The communication interface1060 includes, for example, any one or any combination of any two ormore of a component configured to perform a mobile communication (forexample, a fourth generation (4G) communication and/or a fifthgeneration (5G) communication), a component configured to perform awireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) communication, a component configured toperform a near field communication (NFC), and a component configured toperform a Bluetooth communication.

Also, the electronic apparatus 1000 includes an output device, forexample, a speaker or a vibration generator, configured to provide anoutput to a user, and an input device, for example, a microphone,configured to receive an input from the user.

Also, the electronic apparatus 1000 may include a sensor configured tosense bioinformation, for example, heart rate information, of a user.

The above description of FIGS. 1 through 9 is also applicable to theexample of FIG. 10. In the interest of conciseness, this description isnot repeated herein with respect to FIG. 10.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a charging indication of an electronicapparatus.

Referring to FIG. 11, the electronic apparatus 1000 may display, on thedisplay 1040, an indication 1110 of whether to perform a fast charging.In an example in which the electronic apparatus 1000 is connected to thecable of the power supplier 120, the fast charging of the electronicapparatus 1000 may be determined to be applicable when a maximum outputvoltage of the power supplier 120 is greater than or equal to athreshold voltage (for example, 10 V) and when a relatively low amountof power remains in each of the first battery 250 and the second battery260. The electronic apparatus 1000 may display the indication 1110 ofwhether to perform the fast charging on the display 1040 and may inquirewhether a user wants to fast charge the electronic apparatus 1000. Whenthe user selects “Yes” in the indication 1110, the electronic apparatus1000 may be fast charged by changing the connection relationship betweenthe first battery 250 and the second battery 260 from a parallelconnection relationship to a series connection relationship. When theuser selects “No” in the indication 1110, the electronic apparatus 1000may charge the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 at a lowspeed, while the first battery 250 and the second battery 260 configuredin the parallel connection relationship.

In an example, when fast charging of the electronic apparatus 1000 isdetermined to be applicable, an indication stating that fast charging isto be performed may be displayed on the display 1040.

The above description of FIGS. 1 through 10 is also applicable to theexample of FIG. 11. In the interest of conciseness, this description isnot repeated herein with respect to FIG. 11.

The power supplier 120, the OVP 220, the charger 230, the chargingcontroller 240, the switch controller 510, the first charger 810, thesecond charger 820, the system 830, the memory 1030, the processor 1050,the communication interface 1060, the memories, the processors, andother components in FIGS. 1-11 that perform the operations described inthis application are implemented by hardware components configured toperform the operations described in this application that are performedby the hardware components. Examples of hardware components that may beused to perform the operations described in this application whereappropriate include controllers, sensors, generators, drivers, memories,comparators, arithmetic logic units, adders, subtractors, multipliers,dividers, integrators, and any other electronic components configured toperform the operations described in this application. In other examples,one or more of the hardware components that perform the operationsdescribed in this application are implemented by computing hardware, forexample, by one or more processors or computers. A processor or computermay be implemented by one or more processing elements, such as an arrayof logic gates, a controller and an arithmetic logic unit, a digitalsignal processor, a microcomputer, a programmable logic controller, afield-programmable gate array, a programmable logic array, amicroprocessor, or any other device or combination of devices that isconfigured to respond to and execute instructions in a defined manner toachieve a desired result. In one example, a processor or computerincludes, or is connected to, one or more memories storing instructionsor software that are executed by the processor or computer. Hardwarecomponents implemented by a processor or computer may executeinstructions or software, such as an operating system (OS) and one ormore software applications that run on the OS, to perform the operationsdescribed in this application. The hardware components may also access,manipulate, process, create, and store data in response to execution ofthe instructions or software. For simplicity, the singular term“processor” or “computer” may be used in the description of the examplesdescribed in this application, but in other examples multiple processorsor computers may be used, or a processor or computer may includemultiple processing elements, or multiple types of processing elements,or both. For example, a single hardware component or two or morehardware components may be implemented by a single processor, or two ormore processors, or a processor and a controller. One or more hardwarecomponents may be implemented by one or more processors, or a processorand a controller, and one or more other hardware components may beimplemented by one or more other processors, or another processor andanother controller. One or more processors, or a processor and acontroller, may implement a single hardware component, or two or morehardware components. A hardware component may have any one or more ofdifferent processing configurations, examples of which include a singleprocessor, independent processors, parallel processors,single-instruction single-data (SISD) multiprocessing,single-instruction multiple-data (SIMD) multiprocessing,multiple-instruction single-data (MISD) multiprocessing, andmultiple-instruction multiple-data (MIMD) multiprocessing.

The methods illustrated in FIGS. 1-11 that perform the operationsdescribed in this application are performed by computing hardware, forexample, by one or more processors or computers, implemented asdescribed above executing instructions or software to perform theoperations described in this application that are performed by themethods. For example, a single operation or two or more operations maybe performed by a single processor, or two or more processors, or aprocessor and a controller. One or more operations may be performed byone or more processors, or a processor and a controller, and one or moreother operations may be performed by one or more other processors, oranother processor and another controller. One or more processors, or aprocessor and a controller, may perform a single operation, or two ormore operations.

Instructions or software to control computing hardware, for example, oneor more processors or computers, to implement the hardware componentsand perform the methods as described above may be written as computerprograms, code segments, instructions or any combination thereof, forindividually or collectively instructing or configuring the one or moreprocessors or computers to operate as a machine or special-purposecomputer to perform the operations that are performed by the hardwarecomponents and the methods as described above. In one example, theinstructions or software include machine code that is directly executedby the one or more processors or computers, such as machine codeproduced by a compiler. In another example, the instructions or softwareincludes higher-level code that is executed by the one or moreprocessors or computer using an interpreter. The instructions orsoftware may be written using any programming language based on theblock diagrams and the flow charts illustrated in the drawings and thecorresponding descriptions in the specification, which disclosealgorithms for performing the operations that are performed by thehardware components and the methods as described above.

The instructions or software to control computing hardware, for example,one or more processors or computers, to implement the hardwarecomponents and perform the methods as described above, and anyassociated data, data files, and data structures, may be recorded,stored, or fixed in or on one or more non-transitory computer-readablestorage media. Examples of a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), flashmemory, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD+Rs, CD-RWs, CD+RWs, DVD-ROMs, DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs,DVD-RWs, DVD+RWs, DVD-RAMs, BD-ROMs, BD-Rs, BD-R LTHs, BD-REs, magnetictapes, floppy disks, magneto-optical data storage devices, optical datastorage devices, hard disks, solid-state disks, and any other devicethat is configured to store the instructions or software and anyassociated data, data files, and data structures in a non-transitorymanner and provide the instructions or software and any associated data,data files, and data structures to one or more processors or computersso that the one or more processors or computers can execute theinstructions. In one example, the instructions or software and anyassociated data, data files, and data structures are distributed overnetwork-coupled computer systems so that the instructions and softwareand any associated data, data files, and data structures are stored,accessed, and executed in a distributed fashion by the one or moreprocessors or computers.

While this disclosure includes specific examples, it will be apparentafter an understanding of the disclosure of this application thatvarious changes in form and details may be made in these exampleswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the claims and theirequivalents. The examples described herein are to be considered in adescriptive sense only, and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptionsof features or aspects in each example are to be considered as beingapplicable to similar features or aspects in other examples. Suitableresults may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in adifferent order, and/or if components in a described system,architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner,and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or theirequivalents. Therefore, the scope of the disclosure is defined not bythe detailed description, but by the claims and their equivalents, andall variations within the scope of the claims and their equivalents areto be construed as being included in the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic apparatus, comprising: batteries; acharger configured to charge the batteries; a switch networkelectrically connected to the batteries; and a charging controllerconfigured to determine a charging mode to be a first charging mode inresponse to a determined charging current value being greater than orequal to a threshold current, control, in the first charging mode, theswitch network such that the batteries are in series connection,determine the charging mode to be a second charging mode in response tothe determined charging current value being less than the thresholdcurrent, and control, in the second charging mode, the switch networksuch that the batteries are in parallel connection.
 2. The electronicapparatus of claim 1, wherein, in the first charging mode, the chargeris further configured to charge the batteries, while the batteries arein the series connection, with a voltage set to correspond to the firstcharging mode, and wherein, in the second charging mode, the charger isfurther configured to charge the batteries, while the batteries are inthe parallel connection, with a voltage set to correspond to the secondcharging mode.
 3. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, wherein thecharging controller is further configured to determine the charging modeto be the first charging mode in response to an output voltage value ofa power supplier being greater than or equal to a threshold voltage anddetermine the charging mode to be the second charging mode in responseto the output voltage value being less than the threshold voltage. 4.The electronic apparatus of claim 3, wherein the charging controller isfurther configured to determine a required voltage value for the chargerbased on the output voltage value and control the charger based on thedetermined required voltage value.
 5. The electronic apparatus of claim4, wherein the determined required voltage value is related to thedetermined charging current, and wherein the determined charging currentis a determined required charging current.
 6. The electronic apparatusof claim 1, wherein the charging controller is further configured todetermine an output voltage value of the power supplier based oninformation about an output voltage range of the power supplier andmaximum charging efficiency information for each of output voltages inthe output voltage range.
 7. The electronic apparatus of claim 1,further comprising: a first switch configured to electrically connectthe charger and a load; and a second switch configured to electricallyconnect the charger to the batteries.
 8. The electronic apparatus ofclaim 7, wherein the charging controller is further configured tocontrol the first switch to interrupt an electrical connection betweenthe charger and the load in a first charging mode.
 9. A method ofcharging an electronic apparatus, the method comprising: determining acharging mode to be a first charging mode in response to a determinedcharging current value being greater than or equal to a thresholdcurrent; controlling, in the first charging mode, a switch networkelectrically connected to batteries such that the batteries are inseries connection; determining the charging mode to be a second chargingmode in response to the determined charging current value being lessthan the threshold current, and controlling, in the second chargingmode, the switch network such that the batteries are in parallelconnection.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: charging thebatteries in the second charging mode, while the batteries are in theparallel connection, with a voltage set to correspond to the secondcharging mode in the second charging mode, and charging the batteries inthe first charging mode, while the batteries are in the seriesconnection, with a voltage set to correspond to the first charging modein the first charging mode.
 11. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising: determining the charging mode to be the first charging modein response to an output voltage value of a power supplier being greaterthan or equal to a threshold voltage; and determining the charging modeto be the second charging mode in response to the output voltage valuebeing less than the threshold voltage.
 12. The method of claim 11,further comprising: determining a required voltage value for a chargerbased on the output voltage value, and controlling the charger based onthe determined required voltage value.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the determined required voltage value is related to thedetermined charging current, and wherein the determined charging currentis a determined required charging current.
 14. The method of claim 9,further comprising: determining an output voltage value of a powersupplier based on information about an output voltage range of the powersupplier and maximum charging efficiency information for each of outputvoltages in the output voltage range.
 15. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising: controlling a switch to interrupt an electrical connectionbetween a charger and a load in the first charging mode.
 16. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructionsthat, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform themethod of claim 9.